Lemurs and meerkats for Dehiwala Zoo

The Dehiwala Zoo has received a pair of Ring-tailed Lemurs and a pair of Meerkats. The animals were delivered under an international animal exchange programme. In exchange, Sri Lanka has given two pairs of Giant Squirrels and a male Rusty-Spotted Cat to Britain’s Rare Species Conservation Centre.

The Dehiwala Zoo was to receive a second pair of Ring-tailed Lemurs, but the animals had to be held back due to ill-health, shortly before they were due to be shipped to Sri Lanka. Lemurs are primates indigenous to the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar. The newly arrived Meerkats will join the Dehiwala Zoo’s established Meerkat family. Meerkats are desert animals that live in burrows.

This is the second shipment of zoo animals to arrive in Sri Lanka in recent weeks. On February 24, the zoo received a pair of White Tigers from China’s Xiang-jiang Safari Park.